LIGHT AIRCRAFT DOWN NEAR ROBERTSON

[34south]

RIP to Willem & wishing his family peaceful closure at this time. Sounded like a great gentleman & someone I’d like to have known, though perhaps I did among the Haeco Saffers who met our HKG arrivals.

I heard from another pilot who flew through there just ahead of Willem that the turbulence was very uncomfortable, having to catch the bank angle beyond 30° through some pockets.

[Trevor Duane]

RIP to Willem & wishing his family peaceful closure at this time. Sounded like a great gentleman & someone I’d like to have known, though perhaps I did among the Haeco Saffers who met our HKG arrivals.

I heard from another pilot who flew through there just ahead of Willem that the turbulence was very uncomfortable, having to catch the bank angle beyond 30° through some pockets.

Can you add the ac type which the pilot was flying through the same area ?

[AnAV8R]

For those who were close to him...

[34south]

RIP to Willem & wishing his family peaceful closure at this time. Sounded like a great gentleman & someone I’d like to have known, though perhaps I did among the Haeco Saffers who met our HKG arrivals.

I heard from another pilot who flew through there just ahead of Willem that the turbulence was very uncomfortable, having to catch the bank angle beyond 30° through some pockets.

Can you add the ac type which the pilot was flying through the same area ?

Chances are it was a Comanche? I can find out. The said pilot flies B747-8, hang gliders & almost everything in between.

[ACE MAN]

RIP to Willem & wishing his family peaceful closure at this time. Sounded like a great gentleman & someone I’d like to have known, though perhaps I did among the Haeco Saffers who met our HKG arrivals.

I heard from another pilot who flew through there just ahead of Willem that the turbulence was very uncomfortable, having to catch the bank angle beyond 30° through some pockets.

Can you add the ac type which the pilot was flying through the same area ?

Chances are it was a Comanche? I can find out. The said pilot flies B747-8, hang gliders & almost everything in between.

Sounds like Dolf

[NewGroundPounder]

Chances are it was a Comanche? I can find out. The said pilot flies B747-8, hang gliders & almost everything in between.
[/quote]
Sounds like Dolf
[/quote]

Dolf Pretorius ?
We flew Hang Gliders around the same time
I he says it was rough, it actually was unflyable........

[apollo11]

Been some hectic weather around the areas in WC and also EC and OFS interior the next few days, with huge cut-off low flexing its muscles.

[Slapfaan]

Any prelim report from CAA? It’s been 30 days already

[Jean Crous]

Any prelim report from CAA? It’s been 30 days already

I believe there is a prelim report just out .
Jean

[liaan]

https://caasanwebsitestorage.blob.core. ... ZU-EIB.pdf

[Biggles_peru]

It looks like the investigation is going toward turbulence dislodging luggage on the front seat onto the dual controls resulting in loss of control by the pilot.

[robkkbke]

I heard from a reliable source that he had a suitcase with him. That ties up with the CAA prelim report. So the suitcase blocking the front stick which makes all uncontrollable. To verify this one need to talk to people who saw him off in Robertson. This seems more plausible than the rough weather case described above. Gliders from Worcester fly in that area without problems and some even prefer that meaning they come out and search the rotor/wave conditions.

[Slapfaan]

Interesting angle about the suitcases jamming the controls.

The report does state that the suitcase was secured, Willem was super safety conscious and would have done a good job in securing loose items.

I doubt if the suitcase or other bags were very heavy, as it was only for an overnight stay, and even if they became dislodged during turbulence, it would be quite easy to lean forward over the front seat and retrieve the bags.

A stalled condition however, near the ground, in a downdraught would have been much more challenging.

My 2 cents

[jimdavis]

It looks like the investigation is going toward turbulence dislodging luggage on the front seat onto the dual controls resulting in loss of control by the pilot.

Hmmm. If the luggage on the front seat became dislodged I guess it, or part of it, could have gone back into the prop.

jim

[HJK 414]

It looks like the investigation is going toward turbulence dislodging luggage on the front seat onto the dual controls resulting in loss of control by the pilot.

Hmmm. If the luggage on the front seat became dislodged I guess it, or part of it, could have gone back into the prop.

jim

Jim,

Does not happen often - but you have lost me completely here ..........
How would the luggage get to the prop ??
In a cubby ?

JK